Full Text of HJR0102 98th General Assembly
HJ0102 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The 98th General Assembly of the State of Illinois | 3 | | has submitted House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment | 4 | | 52, a proposition to amend the Illinois Constitution, to the | 5 | | voters of Illinois at the November 2014 general election; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Constitution Amendment Act requires | 7 | | the General Assembly to prepare a brief explanation of the | 8 | | proposed amendment, a brief argument in favor of the amendment, | 9 | | a brief argument against the amendment, and the form in which | 10 | | the amendment will appear on the ballot, and also requires the | 11 | | information to be published and distributed to the electorate; | 12 | | therefore, be it
| 13 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 14 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 15 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the proposed form of new Section | 16 | | 8 of Article III shall be published as follows:
| 17 | | "ARTICLE III | 18 | | SUFFRAGE AND ELECTIONS | 19 | | SECTION 8. VOTER DISCRIMINATION | 20 | | No person shall be denied the right to register to vote or | 21 | | to cast a ballot in an election based on race, color, |
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| 1 | | ethnicity, status as a member of a language minority, national | 2 | | origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or income. "; and be | 3 | | it further | 4 | | RESOLVED, That a brief explanation of the proposed | 5 | | amendment, a brief argument in favor of the amendment, a brief | 6 | | argument against the amendment, and the form in which the | 7 | | amendment will appear on the ballot shall be published and | 8 | | distributed as follows: |
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| 1 | | PROPOSED AMENDMENT
| 2 | | TO ADD SECTION 8 TO ARTICLE III | 3 | | OF THE ILLINOIS CONSTITUTION | 4 | | That will be submitted to the voters
| 5 | | November 4, 2014 | 6 | | This pamphlet includes | 7 | | EXPLANATION OF THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT
| 8 | | ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF THE AMENDMENT
| 9 | | ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE AMENDMENT
| 10 | | FORM OF BALLOT
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| 1 | | To the Electors of the State of Illinois: | 2 | | The purpose of a state constitution is to establish a structure | 3 | | for government and laws. There are three ways to initiate | 4 | | change to the Illinois Constitution: (1) a constitutional | 5 | | convention may propose changes to any part; (2) the General | 6 | | Assembly may propose changes to any part; or (3) a petition | 7 | | initiative may propose amendments limited to structural and | 8 | | procedural subjects contained in the Legislative Article. The | 9 | | people of Illinois must approve any changes to the Constitution | 10 | | before they become effective. | 11 | | The proposed amendment adds a new section to the Suffrage and | 12 | | Elections Article of the Illinois Constitution. The section | 13 | | would ensure no person could be denied the right to register to | 14 | | vote or cast a ballot based on his or her race, color, | 15 | | ethnicity, status as a member of a language minority, national | 16 | | origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or income. At the | 17 | | general election to be held on November 4, 2014, you will be | 18 | | called upon to decide whether the proposed amendment should | 19 | | become part of the Illinois Constitution. | 20 | | EXPLANATION
| 21 | | The proposed amendment would prohibit any law or procedure that | 22 | | intentionally discriminates or has an unequal effect upon the |
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| 1 | | right of a person to register to vote or cast a ballot based on | 2 | | the voter's race, color, ethnicity, status as a member of a | 3 | | language minority, national origin, religion, sex, sexual | 4 | | orientation, or income. | 5 | | The proposed amendment does not change the requirements for | 6 | | voting. A voter must still be a citizen of the United States, a | 7 | | permanent resident of Illinois for more than 30 days, and be 18 | 8 | | years of age. | 9 | | Arguments In Favor of the Proposed Amendment | 10 | | The proposed amendment is a demonstration that the people | 11 | | of Illinois believe all eligible Illinois citizens have a | 12 | | fundamental right to vote, and that laws and regulations that | 13 | | seek to prohibit eligible Illinois citizens from voting in an | 14 | | election should not be tolerated in a civil society. Under the | 15 | | amendment, any law or procedure that has a disparate impact | 16 | | upon the ability of a person to register to vote or cast a | 17 | | ballot based on the voter's race, color, ethnicity, status as a | 18 | | member of a language minority, national origin, religion, sex, | 19 | | sexual orientation, or income would be subject to strict | 20 | | judicial scrutiny. | 21 | | Arguments Against the Proposed Amendment |
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| 1 | | This amendment is not necessary. Many of these protections | 2 | | are already provided by federal law. The proponents have not | 3 | | identified any instances of voter discrimination in Illinois | 4 | | that would justify the creation of a State cause of action. The | 5 | | proposed amendment will only serve to increase litigation. | 6 | | FORM OF BALLOT | 7 | | Proposed Amendment to the 1970 Illinois Constitution
| 8 | | Explanation of Amendment
| 9 | | The proposed amendment adds a new section to the Suffrage and | 10 | | Elections Article of the Illinois Constitution. The proposed | 11 | | amendment would prohibit any law that disproportionately | 12 | | affects the rights of eligible Illinois citizens to register to | 13 | | vote or cast a ballot based on the voter's race, color, | 14 | | ethnicity, status as a member of a language minority, national | 15 | | origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or income. You are | 16 | | asked to decide whether the proposed amendment should become | 17 | | part of the Illinois Constitution.
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| 19 | | YES For the proposed addition
- | 20 | | ---------- of Section 8 to Article III
| 21 | | NO of the Illinois Constitution.
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